The ancient, traditional, and present eastern health and medical practices all evolve around the concept and theory of an invisible life-energy that permeates the environment, and circulates in the human body via a system of channels and gateways. This life-energy is believed to nourish and power all living things. This invisible life-energy is called “qi” or “chi” ( in China and Japan, and Prana in India. Eastern medical treatments all involve delivering and improving the flow of this life-energy to the ill, either biochemically converting from herbal remedies, deriving from the environment, or delivering via a healer to the patient's system of life-energy flow channels. One such example is Acupuncture, which use acupuncture needles punctured through a patient's skin to gateways to his/her life-energy channels to derive energy from the environment to unblock the patient's blockage in his life-energy flow.
Traditional Chinese Health/Medical Theories and Acupuncture:
The Traditional Chinese Medical Art of Acupuncture is widely practiced all over the world, for enhancing health and treating illnesses. The practitioner inserts small gauge needles through skin, ranging from approximately 2 mm to 2.5 cm deep, into specific sets of “Points” in a system of Meridians and Collaterals, and Organ and Muscle Regions. According to the theories of the Traditional Chinese Medicine, Meridians and Collaterals (“Jinglou,” ) are channels where, life-energy (“qi”  and blood (“shu” ), or, rather, the micronutrients in the blood circulate, and the exchange of nutrient and bio-wastes takes place. The Meridians are the main channels, and the Collaterals are the branch channels. This system of Meridians and Collaterals include 12 regular Meridians, 8 extra Meridians, 15 Collaterals, 12 divergent Meridians, 12 Muscle Regions, and 12 Cutaneous Regions. Three of the 32 Meridians are illustrated in FIG. 1A. The “Points” where the Acupuncture needles are inserted into, are the specific sites located in the superficial cutaneous layer generally beneath the surface skin, and above the muscle regions, through which (the “Points”), the “qi”—of the organs (“Zang-Fu”  muscles, nerves, and Meridians and Collaterals, is gated to the body surface. External energy can thus be gated into the Meridians, Collaterals, Zang-Fu, Muscles, and Nerves to help open blocked “qi” flow, and to amend inadequate “qi.”
While Acupuncture is only one modality in the many different treatment modalities and methods in the Traditional Chinese Medicine, and these gateway “Points,” have many uses and ramifications beyond Acupuncture, they are referred as Acu-Points in the Western nomenclature, due to the popularity of Acupuncture in the West. FIGS. 1B and 1C illustrate locations and names of some major Acu-Points. FIG. 1D lists 12 of the 27 Acu-Points on the Kidney Meridian of Foot Shaoyin, a Meridian shown in FIG. 1A. This list is taken from the text of “Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion,” which was compiled by the International Acupuncture Training Centers and Acupuncture Institute of China, Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, on commission of the Ministry of Public Health. The name, location, indications (problems that can be treated by treating the Point), method, and the nearby blood vessels and nerves are described. Except for Point K1,the locations and methods are truncated in FIG. 1D for economy of space. In all of the texts of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Acu-Points are organized/listed under the Meridian/Collateral and/or Muscle Regions each Point belong, along with the indications for each Point. The traditional Chinese medicine theorizes that ill health is due to blockage, imbalance, and inadequacy of the “qi,” thus impediment to nutrient flow and blood circulation in certain areas of the body. Through these surface gateway Acu-Points, the “qi” and nutrient flow in the area of the ailed can be adjusted and re-balanced, to restore proper functioning. The imbalance or blockage of the “qi” and nutrient flow in certain pathways and regions of the body results in a certain set of Inter-correlated health conditions. Acupuncture treats these health conditions by inserting small gauge needles to a set of Acu-Points gated to the certain areas of certain Meridians and Collaterals that are related to these specific health conditions to eliminate blockage and achieve adequacy and balance in the “qi” and nutrient flow and circulation. Practitioners often rub and turn the needle between the thumb and the index finger holding the needle while inserting it into an Acu-Point. Such rubbing and turning action is said to produce a small amount of electrical energy that would be conducted through the needle to the Acu-Point to “kick-start” the stagnant energy—“qi” to flow. Acupuncture is proven effective in treating a very large array of chronic health conditions, pain, and aches, as well as enhancing physical and mental health and vitality. However, the Meridian and Collateral system is very complex, and mastery of the vast quantity, depth of knowledge of the subtlety and intricacy of the Meridian and Collateral system is required for the practice. The acupuncture needles are very fine, requiring accurate location and depth insertion to produce effective results, and to not accidentally miss-insert into a nerve, a blood vessel, or a wrong Point, causing pain, bleeding, and/or undesirable results. These risk aspects of the needle insertion of Acupuncture make the practice difficult to master, and patients reluctant to visit an acupuncturist.
Acupressure:
Acupressure is also a widely practiced traditional Chinese healing/therapeutic modality, literally called Finger Pressure in Chinese. This modality uses fingers to apply pressure to, and/or massage the Acu-Points to heal ailments or to enhance health, largely using the same “indications” as in Acupuncture. This technique has also become popular outside of Chinese communities. However, the difficulties of mastering the intricacy of the Meridian and Collateral system, and the risk of serious negative consequences resulting from applying strong pressure on a wrong Point are also significant problems in the Acupressure therapy.
Jin Shin Jyutsu:
Jin Shin Jyutzu was an obscure branch of the “qi” and Meridian based Traditional Chinese Medicine. It was revived and promoted by a Japanese man during early 1900's. The treatment art uses only the simple “touch” and “holding” with hands, on primarily 26 pairs of “safety-energy-locks” (SEL) located along five major Meridians, to remove blockages and stagnations of the life-energy flow, which, the practitioners of Jin-Shin Jyutsu believe to cause a variety of biological and mental disharmony and illnesses. By holding patient's five fingers of the hands, and the center of the palms, as well as the 26 pairs of energy-locks, the practitioners of the art believe, that the various “depths” and “flows” of the life-energy would be increased, improved, and balanced to achieve general well-being, and heal illnesses. This art was brought to the U.S. in the early 1960's, and promoted and practiced with excellent results. The 26 pairs of “safety energy-locks” in Jin Shin Jyutsu are actually a subset of key Acu-Points. The fingers, fingertips and palm centers are converging, connection, and crossover places and points of many Meridians. Jin Shin Jyutsu advocates that human hands are conduit of the healing energy that permeates in the environment as well as resides within the patient and the healer, and thus there is no need for the application of force/pressure in Jin Shin Jyutsu as is in Acupressure. The treatment is nevertheless time consuming, and at times awkward and tiring for the practitioner. Only two locations can be “touched”/“held” at the same time by one practitioner. Holding one pair of“safety-energy-locks” can take as much as tens of minutes to achieve noticeable effect—specified in Jin Shin Jyutsu as a pulsation under the touch, while many pairs of “safety energy-locks” often need to be treated for a particular health condition. FIG. 2 shows the 26 pairs of “safety energy locks,” and a list of treatment subjects/areas with the corresponding SELs to be used for treating the subject/area.
Trigger Point Massage Therapy:
Trigger Point Massage Therapy theorizes that when muscles are tight, over used, under used, improperly used, or injured, lactic acid and metabolic and inflammation waste products accumulate in concentration at specific locations on the muscles. These locations are called Trigger Points, examples of which are shown in FIG. 3. The waste accumulation at a Trigger Point impedes blood circulation, tighten muscles, and affects an entire region of muscle, tendon, and ligament tissues around the Trigger Point, manifesting in increasing soreness and pain, and results in the build-up of calcification and scar tissues in the area if not properly treated. The Trigger Points that have accumulated excessive lactic acid and other waste products produce an aching, sore sensation when pressed. The Trigger Point Massage is based on the premise that when adequate pressure is applied through surface skin over a sore Trigger Point, the force momentarily presses blood and fluid out of the Trigger Point. The release of the pressure creates a “starving vacuum,” causing blood and fluids from the surrounding area to “rush” to the Trigger Point, thus flushing out the accumulated waste product and toxin. Continual treatment would break up the calcification and scar tissue that were formed over-time in the tissues in the affected area, and restore proper circulation and health to the muscle/tendon/ligament tissues in the area. A Trigger-Point massage therapist uses a finger, a knuckle, or an elbow to apply considerable force/pressure on the aching sore Trigger Points, which are located deep in the muscle tissue. The considerable force required, as well as the separate and depth locations of the Trigger Points, make the treatment process laborious and slow—by applying pressure with a thumb or elbow, one-point-at-a-time. This time and energy consuming shortcoming exists also in the Acupressure therapy.
Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS) and Transcutaneous Electronic Nerve Stimulation (TENS):
In orthopedic physical therapies chiropractic therapies dealing with injured, aching, and tense muscles, electrical pulses can be applied via conductive gel-pads on skin areas over two ends of an affected muscles and/or associated nerves, to involuntarily contract (pulse-on) and relax (pulse-off) muscles, and to stimulate nerves to reduce pain, promote healing, and restore function. These treatments are called Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS) and Transcutaneous Electronic Nerve Stimulation (TENS). The conventional electronic pulse generation devices used for such physical/chiropractic therapies generate a train of electronic pulses with constant frequency, amplitude, and wave shape, which are chosen and set from a range of available options or a set of “dials” by the practitioner for the patient. Biological subjects, such as nerves, muscles, ligaments, and tendons tend to get “trained to” (become “use to”) an unchanging stimulus over time, and gradually come to ignore such unchanging stimulus, and cease to respond.